Betty White and Beatrice Arthur played two of the four titular retirees sharing a Florida house in NBC's long-running sitcom, but the quiet (and mostly one-sided) feud between the two had repercussions for the whole cast. Ultimately, it was Arthur 's decision to quit that brought the show to an end.

According to Arthur's son Matthew Saks, "Betty became her nemesis". It has been suggested that Arthur envied White's crowdpleasing gift for improv, but Arthur was bewildered by her dislike.

"I don’t know what I ever did, but she was not that thrilled with me," she said. "She found me a pain in the neck sometimes. It was my positive attitude — and that made Bea mad. Sometimes if I was happy, she’d be furious."